Ironically, for a country that boasts freedom of speech as the most important value for a society, any criticism concerning an aspect of the modern life in the US is viewed as unpatriotic and unacceptable Without denying the fact that living in the United States has numerous positive features, there are also several harsh realities to account for, especially for minorities and low-income citizens.
In a democratic system, people should take advantage of their rights and perform a lucid analysis of their society rather than accept the bedtime stories that the politicians and their corporate masters feed them via the media. Let’s take a short tour of the most common misconstructions regarding the modern United States society.
1. America is strictly a meritocratic society
The ideology that hard work and perseverance represent the key to success in America is commendable, yet inapplicable in the real world. In fact, many times authorities and privately owned companies will fail the average/low income American citizen. At the same time, excellence in your field and a good work ethic will not always provide sufficient leverage for transcending poverty. To put it simply, the original meritocracy concept has evolved towards oligarchy and financial/social stratifications become increasingly obvious.
2. There is equality between all citizens of the US
Are marriages between partners of the same sex considered legal yet? How long ago were the laws concerning the civil rights, the voting and the benefits of disabled citizens introduced? And, more importantly, why did these laws have to be established? That’s right, because the society in the US has a historical inclination for marginalizing certain minorities. There is no such thing as equality unless it is mandated by the law and sometimes, not even then.
3. Things were better in the good old days
When we are speaking about the good old days in America, we are typically referring to the 50s, a period that was allegedly all about simplicity, every citizen knew his role in society and life was bliss. However, let’s not forget that it was also a time of segregation and the fact that this idealized picture of the US in the 50s represents nothing more and nothing less than a carefully constructed marketing campaign. Rather than construct a society that adapts to the people, the role of this campaign is to make people adapt to a predetermined dogma with domineering gender dynamics and inflexible class systems.
4. We’re all living the “American Dream”
Again, the idealistic representation of the “American Dream” has few things in common with reality. In short it has been replaced by aggressive banking practices, vanishing retirement funds, fraudulent credit institutions, sky high interest rates, foreclosures at every turn, so on and so forth. And these are just a few of the barriers that stand between the average income citizen and the “American Dream”.
5. This country was founded on the idea of freedom
Well, if you examine the early history of America, you will notice that it was founded on the principles of slavery and segregation rather than freedom. The concept of freedom refers mostly to the autonomy of the white population and the condemnable practices against different color minorities continued for centuries. At the same time African, Latino and Asian immigrant communities were not assimilated into the mainstream until much later.
Truth: This is not always the case. Sushi is judged by the perfection of the sushi chef’s cut. All sushi must be cut thinly and at an angle. Chefs go through special training and have to master the art of cutting sushi. Those that cut thick slices are not master chefs; thus it makes the quality low.
Green tea is not the magic tooth fairy. It cannot produce wanders as much as people would love to think. Although green tea does speed up the metabolism, it does not solve various other problems associated with overweight. One cannot just drink a cup of green tea after eating 4000 calories worth of food and think they will be able to lose weight and reduce cholesterol and blood sugar levels. The process of burning fat would be faster but surely not thorough at a snap of a finger or shall we say, a cup of green tea.
Truth: ASD is a lifelong disorder and stays with the person throughout his/her life. Although there is no cure, there are intensive programs designed to integrate individuals with the disorder. Many experts use different methods such as music therapy and social stories to treat people suffering because ASD.
Truth: Statistics and studies have not been able to back up this statement. Many parents are quite supportive of children with ASD. They have allied themselves with organizations such as Autism Speaks to help. Parents increasingly feel overwhelmed by the responsibilities that come with having a family member with ASD. Many have had to quit their jobs to better help their children.
Truth: This is dead wrong. Often, autistic people are behind their age mates and reach the developmental milestones later than normal. But when they get appropriate support, particularly with early intervention (when autism is discovered early, e.g. under the age of 3) autistic people can make incredible improvement and often keep up with their age mates in school.
Truth: Sometimes, because of the social difficulties, autistic people are considered to be “cold” because they do not seem to express love or show empathy. However, most autistic people are more than capable of feeling and expressing love though sometimes in unusual ways. Moreover, many autistic people are far more empathetic, though they may express their empathy in different ways than us. Every cue and every sign counts.
Truth: If anyone has read the book, The Curious Case of the Dog in the Night-Time, one would remember Christopher memorizing information and being concerned with patterns. His attention and focus were only on the topics he loved such as murder mysteries. Christopher is an example of someone with Asperger’s Syndrome, one of the 5 types of ASD. There are various individuals, who have trouble processing their information. They may try to memorize credit cards, essays, speeches and dates. However, many individuals with ASD can go into withdrawal because of an overload of information in their brain.
Truth: 80% of individuals with ASD learn how to speak and communicate after intensive schooling and training. Many individuals like Temple Grandin serve as an example of someone, who overcame the barriers of ASD to become a professor, author and public speaker.
Truth: The ASD support ribbon is a good analogy to explain ASD. ASD cases are different. Each individual who has ASD may not have the same symptoms as his classmate. The contrast in colours in the ribbon represent that complexity of this disorder. Scientists cannot begin to understand ASD as each case is special.
Truth: Many individuals would argue that ASD is not properly represented by non-profit organizations. Many organizations such as Autism Speaks fail to include individuals with ASD on their board councils. One should note that not all individuals with autism are the same. Many individuals grow up to be excellent role model and high functioning citizens in the globalizing world. They can represent themselves as much as others can.
Truth: With intensive programs and school, individuals with ASD can make eye contact. Although they have difficulties social interacting with others, they can outgrow some of the symptoms as well. One should also remember that not all individuals with ASD have the same symptoms.
Truth: This is false. Many individuals with ASD are oversensitive to various situations. Punishment can make the situation worse.
People all over the world are sure of the fact that if children eat too many sugar-coated candies, they will start jumping around and tire themselves out in no time. However, this is not true. Most children are naturally hyper and if they like to bounce up and down on the bed, it has nothing to do with the cereal they ate for breakfast.
A study was carried out on people who were subjected to very low temperatures. The verdict was that they lost most of their body heat through their heads. One fact was ignored- the soldiers were fully clothed but their heads were exposed.
This myth came into being because a certain Government agency during the 1940s declared that a human being should consume 8 glasses of fluid on daily basis. Over the years, the ‘fluid’ part was pushed out and replaced with ‘water’. Basically, it is okay if you do not drink 8 glasses of water every day as long as you keep yourself hydrated.
This myth is as ridiculous as the one which says that if you swallow a fruit seed, a tree will grow in your stomach. Even though gum does not get digested by the human digestive system, it will leave the system quite easily.
When you crack your knuckles and hear the sound, it only means that the gas bubbles are bursting. The above mentioned myth is not true and the worst thing that can happen is that your finger joints will get weak by the time you are 70.
If you are eating healthy food, you must be eating some fruits too. Many people believe that since these fruits contain natural sugars, they will instantly have blood sugar problems. They feel that if they eat too much fruit, they will get a sugar rush that will subside soon, leaving them empty. This is not true. Fact is that if your blood sugar is high, it has nothing to do with the fruit.
Many people believe that if they eat too many mangoes, bananas or apple, they will get Candida. They self-diagnose themselves and panic to no extent. Fact is that this is not true and if they do not believe it, they should visit a doctor.
Many people who have thick glasses and those who find it difficult to even recognize themselves in the mirror without their contacts start nibbling on carrots day in and day out with the hope that it will improve their eyesight. However, while carrots are definitely good for you as they are healthy, they will not change your eyesight. Therefore, keep those glasses on and stop overdosing on the carrots.
While too much of supplemental potassium will definitely cause problems, natural potassium is completely safe. Even though bananas contain about 1,200 mg of this element, you do not need to worry.
This myth is completely untrue. In fact, the more fruit you eat, the more you will keep cancer at bay. Therefore, those patients who have cancer should munch on a whole of fruits through the day instead of avoiding it. People believe that since cancer cells expand after feeding on sugar, fruits are dangerous. However, this is simply not true.
